National Paper Airplane Day in DC
by fems
Summary: What is the best way to celebrate this day?


**Title: **National Paper Airplane Day in DC  
**Theme**: National Paper Airplane Day  
**Category: **Fluff, Humor, Romance

**Season:** post SGU  
**Spoilers**: _Air _(SGU: 1x01)

**Pairing:** S/J  
**Summary: **What is the best way to celebrate this day?

**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** none

**Disclaimer:** see profile  
**A/N: **I don't have a beta, so any mistakes are my own. I always appreciate feedback and/or constructive criticism or just a comment to let me know why you (don't) like it.

* * *

**April 26, 2012  
Homeworld Command  
Arlington County, Virginia**

Jack took a quick glance around the conference room before the lights would be turned off, hoping to catch sight of Carter. After serving together all these years he automatically scanned the room for the familiar flash of blonde, before mentally reminding himself she was a brunette now. One with long hair, instead of the short style she'd had up until her promotion to full bird. You would think he'd know that by now but somehow it often slipped his mind, particularly after she'd been on tour aboard _Hammond_ for a couple of weeks in a row.

He still hadn't seen her when the lights dimmed and tried to get comfortable in his seat, pleased to see La Pierre from the IOA had found some place else to sit and nodded at General Greer who was now seated beside him. They were resuming their monthly meeting of updates on everything off-world related after a short recess and he'd hoped that would give Sam enough time to get here, but apparently it wasn't.

It irked him because he hadn't seen her in six weeks and one of her men _was_ here and had just given an hour-long update about the systems and technical performance of _Hammond_ before their break – even the President's eyes had glazed over during. Jack himself hadn't been able to keep his attention on the presentation simply because it was so boring; at least when Carter spouted technobabble it was engaging, although he might be biased.

He sagged a bit lower in his chair as a geek from Area 51 started on his lecture and looked to his left where some of the most powerful men of the country were sitting. He was glad President Hayes, General Maynard, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Vidrine were present during this meeting because it meant that he wasn't the highest ranking officer in the room and all the attention was on them. So he could just zone out or doodle a bit on the thick notepad that had been supplied for him or, his favorite pastime, watch Colonel Samantha Carter unobtrusively whenever she was present.

Jack startled when something whizzed past his ear and automatically jerked back. He may have been flying a desk for the past few years but there was nothing wrong with his reflexes, he thought smugly. The responsible object landed in his lap though. Frowning, he picked up the… paper airplane? For crying out loud, who was throwing paper airplanes in a highly classified meeting with the President present? And damn it, why hadn't he ever thought about making some to pass the time? He tried to find the perpetrator by looking around but he didn't see anyone who'd dare pull something like this; everyone seemed busy making notes or pretending to pay attention to the presentation.

As stealthily as possible he examined the simple aeronautical toy, impressed with the accurate folds that made up the condor-shaped airplane. Clearly made by someone with experience and unlike the simple models most people made this one had taken a bit more time and effort by the looks of it. Ooh, what was that? Jack slowly unfolded the paper when he spotted some ink under one of the wings, hoping for a clue about its owner. Ignoring the questioning look from Greer, he placed the unfolded paper in front of him and smoothed out its creases to be able to read the message properly.

_Happy National Paper Airplane Day!_

_Sorry I was late, had to twist arms to get some paperwork signed. Now, pay attention to Major Murphy's presentation about the F-302's new missile system, Jack!_

_Love, Sam_

Carter! Jack's head whipped around, trying to locate her and finally spotted those twinkling blue eyes and her enigmatic smile from the other side of the room, in a corner wedged between some other latecomers. They really needed a bigger conference room or at least more chairs, he mused. His eyes did a quick onceover of her lithe figure dressed in a flight suit, lingering on her dark bangs and a few locks that had gotten loose from her ponytail before hungrily taking in her body again.

Their gazes locked for a moment and he felt his heart skip; God, he'd missed her. From her soft smile and the dreamy look in her eyes he was pretty sure she felt the same and while he was elated to see her, knowing she'd come home with him after their boring meeting was over he was already dreading watching her go on Monday morning. There was just never enough time for them to spend together before duty called for one or both of them.

He reluctantly tore his gaze from her when her look turned from loving to rebuking and she jerked her head towards the geek in front of the screen. Missiles, eh? Looking down at the notepad in front of him, Jack got an idea and tore off a piece of paper. As a kid he'd driven his teachers crazy with his fidgeting until one of them had introduced him to origami and every now and then he found himself turning towards the art form out of pure boredom. Next to him General Greer made a disapproving noise as Jack finished his complicated paper dart airplane, which could go far enough to reach Sam.

* * *

Sam bit her lip as she watched Jack. Oy, she hadn't meant for them to start throwing airplanes around! Especially not with the President and the JCS present! Still, she found herself holding back a giggle when Jack turned in her direction, wearing a roguish grin on his face as he threw an exquisite looking airplane her way. "Excuse me," she muttered, stepping around the guy left of her to pick up the plane that had landed near his polished shoe.

_Happy National Paper Airplane Day to you too, Carter!_

_I missed you and can't wait to get out of here…_

_Love, Jack_

God, she'd certainly missed him too. The excitement of exploring space in her own ship was starting to lessen more with every tour and the leave on Earth seemed to get shorter every time! She wasn't sure what she'd expected after Atlantis but the last few years had been more grueling than the one spent in Pegasus. It wasn't fair on Jack either to expect him to drop everything the moment _Hammond_ was in orbit, mess up his routine and then after a few days leave him again. She was pretty sure he was even more miserable than before her visit by the time she left orbit, because she felt the same. That's why she'd made a decision and why she'd been late to the meeting.

* * *

Jack chuckled to himself as Carter was folding yet another plane and he had to admit she was quite skilled at it, something he hadn't expected because she didn't seem the type to do something so… idle. She had excellent aim too, he decided as it landed in his lap again. He had to suppress another smirk unfolding the plane when Greer glared at him reproachfully and smoothed out the paper to read her next message. It was almost as if he'd gone back a few decades and was in high school passing notes around. Only he'd been too cool to do something so lame, but he would have done it if a girl like Carter had sent him one!

_Jack,_

_I'm taking over Landry's command; the paperwork should reach your desk tomorrow. I don't want to calculate the distance between us in light-years anymore._

_Marry me?_

He gasped, doing a double take and rereading the message in smudged ink. His eyes darted from the last line to Sam, who looked like a nervous wreck and back to the paper again. Did it really say…? Feeling her gaze on him he looked up and could see the question in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure you betcha!" Jack replied, holding her gaze with a smile, which widened when he saw the relief wash over her face.

* * *

**A/N:** I'd already planned this fic for today but when I double-checked the date yesterday I realized it had been changed to May! Googling gave me results for both the 26th of April and May, so I just went with today...


End file.
